National Theatre tonight screens the campy classic The Women

Tonight, the National Theatre kicks off its two-months-long free Monday night screening series “Joan Crawford: Hollywood Star” with George Cukor’s 1939 classic The Women. Metro Weekly put the film at No. 6 on last year’s list “13 Camp Films Everyone Should See.” Our reasoning: “With its machine-gun dialogue and art deco glamour, The Women may be the ur-film of unintentional camp. We’re talking about a wronged woman who learns to fight back against the social-climbing salesgirl who stole her husband, giving us Norma Shearer’s immortal delivery, “I’ve had two years to grow claws, Mother — Jungle Red!” — thereby providing a drag queen template for decades to come…Joan Crawford is in full evil temptress mode as the predatory manhunter; Rosalind Russell delivers her rapid-fire patter while wearing a succession of simply fabulous outfits.”

This incredibly funny, bitter film — which features a cast of more than 100 women and no men — chiefly criticizes the pampered lives and power struggles of a group of rich women. In other words, the antecedent to today’s Real Housewives franchise, which has also provided its fair share of material for drag queens.